Our summer travel series centers on places you can easily drive to from Baton Rouge. But what about pushing the borders? For some serious summer travel inspo, we asked three well-traveled locals to show us the stamps on their passports.
WILL LEONARDS Senior auditor at Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office
Favorite destination: I spent some time hiking across northern Spain after college and fell in love with it. The countryside is beautiful, the people are great, and the food and wine are some of the best I’ve ever had.
Least favorite destination: Las Vegas. We stopped on a road trip to the Grand Canyon a couple of years ago, and it was more commercialized than I was expecting. I’m not a big gambler or into shows very much, so Vegas didn’t have much that appealed to me.
Dream destination: I’ve always been interested in seeing Petra [in Jordan] since I was a kid and [learned] it was a real place and not just a movie set in Indiana Jones.
JANAY RICHIE Photography assistant at Collin Richie Photo (and the wife of 225 staff photographer Collin Richie)
Favorite destination: San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. The whole country is amazing, from Ometepe to the old dueling colonial cities, Granada and Leon. San Juan has $35-a-night beach apartments with dollar beers seaside, incredible surfing and a food culture that would surprise you.
Least favorite destination: Roatan, Honduras. Giant tourist trap—if you go to Honduras, I prefer Utila.
Dream destination:Sri Lanka. Plus an upcoming trip: Trans-Siberian Railway from Hong Kong all the way to Moscow with two weeks in Mongolia.
JESSI ARNOLD Photographer and owner of Geaux Selfie
Favorite destination:I just went to Iceland in April. It was this wild, untamed beauty that photos don’t do justice.
Least favorite destination: Amsterdam. To be fair—I only had a layover in the airport. I’ll give it a chance to show off one day!
Dream destination: New Zealand and Bora Bora are top on the list.
This article was originally published in the June 2017 issue of 225 Magazine.
Favorite destination: I spent some time hiking across northern Spain after college and fell in love with it. The countryside is beautiful, the people are great, and the food and wine are some of the best I’ve ever had.
